The Type 45 destroyer, HMS Dragon, has destroyed a supersonic missile in a test off the coast of Scotland, in ‘a historic first’ for the Royal Navy.
As disclosed, the destroyer launched a specially-modified Sea Viper missile at an incoming high-speed target, which was emulating the kind of advanced threats seen around the globe today.
The missile firing took place as part of the largest live-firing exercise in Europe this year, known as Exercise Formidable Shield 25.
It also marks the first time the Royal Navy has faced down this kind of target, one that is significantly more challenging as it flies faster and carries out corkscrew and weave maneuvers.
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A Friday fireball courtesy of @HMSDragon … In a burst of fire and smoke, the Type 45 destroyer launched a specially-modified Sea Viper missile at an incoming high-speed target which was emulating the kind of advanced threats seen around the globe today.
“The successful Sea Viper firing as part of Formidable Shield 25 is a huge moment for HMS Dragon,” Commander Iain Giffin , HMS Dragon’s Commanding Officer, said.
“Not only does it prove that Dragon’s world leading air defence capability functions as it should following an extensive maintenance period, but it also proves our ability to integrate and operate alongside NATO allies and partners. Training alongside ships, aircraft and land forces from 11 nations in this complex, multi-domain exercise ensures that we maintain our fighting edge against evolving Hi and Low-tech threats.”
“Formidable Shield has been both a significant challenge and opportunity for Dragon to come together as a warfighting unit and integrate into a task group developing air defence capability,” Lieutenant Commander Sarah Kaese , Dragon’s Senior Warfare Officer, who is on exchange from the Royal Australian Navy.
The navy explained that just two and a half seconds after erupting from HMS Dragon’s silo, the missile accelerated to more than four times the speed of sound – otherwise known as Mach 4. High above the water, it then maneuvered at G-forces to close in and destroy the target.
Sea Viper is the combination of the Sampson radar system and the Aster missile system, which sits in a silo on the ship’s forecastle. The system tracks aircraft and other objects across thousands of cubic miles of airspace over the Hebrides range in western Scotland, identifies threats, and destroys them when necessary.
The first phase of Formidable Shield took place at the Andøya firing range in Norway before moving on to the Hebrides range. The exercise ends on May 31, 2025.
HMS Dragon is the fourth ship of the Type 45 or Daring-class air-defence destroyers built for the Royal Navy. It was launched in November 2008 and commissioned in April 2012.